No institution can be better than its faculty. An institution can be better than its president, its football team, its library and its food service—but if the faculty are weak, the institution is weak. We are in an exciting time for faculty in that their roles are expanding with new opportunities in online education, MOOCs, […]
The current anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. has collided with the economic challenges of source countries, creating a perfect storm for international student enrollment. Many institutions that have benefited from the rising demand from key source countries such as China, India and Saudi Arabia, will be the first to lose in the possible decline in […]
A handful of campuses teach Native American languages to support the efforts of local tribes to preserve their language and expand their culture’s influence on public education, film and other arenas. This semester, Niagara University—located near the famous waterfall on New York’s Canadian border—introduced a sequence of three classes in Tuscarora, a dialect of the […]
There are many programs that call themselves "college in prison." Most lean toward job training and teaching skills that prisoners can use upon their release. Bard College's Prison Initiative, also known as BPI, focuses instead on the importance of the liberal arts in public life. Daniel Karpowitz, the prison initiative's director of policy and national […]
Got strong graduation rates? Retention numbers? Post-graduation salaries? Then budget time may come with a big bonus. More states now distribute larger portions of higher ed funding to public institutions based on outcomes such as these.
With skilled workers in demand by industry and student enrollment declining, ignoring diversity initiatives is impractical, even unproductive. Students, employees and job candidates can easily see through an institutional faÁ§ade that claims to embrace diversity but makes little effort to promote it. By expanding the definition of diversity and frequently introducing new programs or events […]
First-generation college student and recent UC Berkeley grad Ulises Serrano, an aspiring higher ed administrator, will enter graduate school this fall without any student loan debt. That’s thanks in part to the income-share agreement (ISA) used to finance the first two years of his post-secondary education at Allan Hancock College in California. For Serrano and […]
It happened suddenly – on the pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Chronicle of Higher Education – read as, industrialist Henry Rowan placed a $100 million strategic bet on creating a new kind of engineering school – i.e. reengineering engineering education for the better. Rowan’s legacy transformed the Glassboro […]
The number of U.S. colleges offering gluten-free dining options is rising, as more people learn about the seriousness of celiac disease, says Chris Rich, vice president of development for the Gluten Intolerance Group, an advocacy organization. Another factor in the trend is a 2013 Justice Department ruling that for students with food allergies, safe campus […]
The growing demand for mental health treatment on campuses resulted in part from a national effort, mounted over the last decade or so, to eliminate stigmas and get more students to seek help when grappling with emotional distress. At the same time, a heightened need for crisis care has forced colleges and universities to shift […]
